Residents of barangay Subangdaku in Mandaue City complained of receiving expired goods, some of which got gnawed by rodents during the launching of the “Basura Ko, Mapahimuslan Ko” program two weeks ago.
The program is a project of the city government in partnership with the Sulong Mandauehanong Kabus or Sumaka Inc., a people’s organization in the city, wherein the residents in the city’s 27 barangays can exchange their recyclable wastes with grocery items.
The recipients complained that they received packs of noodles that are gnawed by rodents and expired.
A staff of the Subangdku barangay hall also confirmed their complaints.
She said that during the launching, the barangay received 20 noodles but they returned the 15 packs.
City Environmental and Natural Resources Office (CENRO) head, Engr. Ricardo Mendoza, who launched the project in behalf of the city government said he temporarily stopped the launching of the projects in other barangays.
He admitted that the noodles were expired and some were eaten by rodents while being stocked in the Mandaue City sports complex.
The expiry date was December 2, 2014 and the supplier delivered the items also in December last year.
Mendoza said he already informed the Department of General Services (DGS) which purchased the noodle packs to notify the supplier.
“We actually ordered it last December thinking that the program is ready to be launched but due to circumstances beyond our control, it was postponed. I turned over the goods to Sumaka but because they don’t have a storage room, I just placed it in a room in the Mandaue City Sports Complex,” Mendoza said.
He also said they did not notice the expiry dates on the noodle packs and blamed the supplier.